Israeli occupation denied 200 Palestinian Christians from the besieged Gaza Strip to travel to take part in the Christmas Holidays in the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, December 8, 2022.
Kamel Ayyad, Media Director of the Orthodox Church in Gaza, stated that the church sent a list of 800 Palestinians’ names are willing to travel to the West Bank, but 200 were denied by the Israeli occupation under an illegal security pretext.
Ayyad lamented the Israeli decision, adding that “every Palestinian Muslim and Christian have the right to visit the Holy Islamic and Christian sites anytime and any occasion.”
It is worth mentioning that the Israeli occupation denies Gaza’s Christians to travel during the Holidays seasons every year.
According to the Palestinian Al Dameer Foundation for Human Rights, Israeli occupation denied, in 2022 only, 331 of 765 Christians who applied to visit Bethlehem through the Erez crossing.
1500 Palestinian Christians live in Gaza Strip out of 2 million Palestinians, and most of them follow the Orthodox Church.
Gaza’s Christians celebrate Christmas on December 7 for Orthodox and on December 25 for Catholics.
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